Couple's Vengeance Grows From Frustration

A Child Says She Was Abused. The Suspect Goes Free. And The Parents Are Charged With Hiring A Hit Man.

January 25, 1992|By Christopher Quinn of The Sentinel Staff

Kenneth and Michelle Gursky's 3-year-old daughter told them last summer that her uncle, Patrick Grenier, had touched her on her ''pee pee.'' The Orange County couple called in the law.

Grenier, 29, was charged in December with lewd assault on a child, but prosecutors dropped the charge this week because the 3-year-old changed her story several times.

The Gurskys could not understand how the justice system could fail them. They hired a hit man to break Grenier's legs and smash his jaw, hoping to persuade him to move out of state.

But their hit man turned out to be sheriff's investigator Ray Smith. After the Gurskys paid Smith $200 and gave him a photo of Grenier on Friday morning, they were charged with solicitation to commit aggravated battery, a felony.

''People could feel sorry for these people and understand their frustration,'' Smith said. ''It doesn't justify going out and taking the law into your hands.

''While I was booking them in, I said, 'I can understand your anger,' '' Smith said. He said Ken Gursky, 29, told him, ''I don't know if you can.''

Gursky, who is legally blind, said in an interview Friday that hiring Smith to injure his half brother was a stupid act born of anger and frustration.

''How can you see your 3-year-old daughter on a table at the Child Protection Team being examined by four doctors . . . and she's asking me, 'Why?' '' he said.

Randy Means, spokesman for the Orange-Osceola state attorney's office, said prosecutors had no choice but to drop the case. The little girl changed her description about where she was touched, with what and by whom, he said. Most 3-year-olds are too young to qualify as witnesses, Means said, and in this case a conviction was impossible.

Gursky disagreed. ''She told them exactly what he (Grenier) did,'' he said. ''She told the state attorney. She told my mother-in-law, my wife, she told me. My daughter knows what happened to her.'' Gursky said prosecutors confused his daughter by asking complicated questions she did not understand.

The case began in July, when the toddler told the Gurskys - and an investigator for the Florida Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services - that Grenier had touched her.

Grenier, who deputies said moves frequently and was unavailable Friday, was arrested Dec. 5. But when prosecutors dropped the charges, the Gurskys became angry. Smith said they talked to friends about ways to get Grenier. They eventually talked to a sheriff's informant about a hit man, and the informant arranged a phone call between Smith and Ken Gursky.

''I called him up,'' Smith said Friday. ''He tells me he wants him (Grenier) breathing but his legs broken and his jaw shattered.''

Smith told Gursky he needed Grenier's photo, birth date, Social Security number and other personal information. Smith said the price for the beating would be $500, including a $200 down payment.

Gursky told Smith that he might seek a second, more severe beating if Grenier stayed in Florida after the first one, the detective said.

Smith met the Gurskys Friday morning at a restaurant east of Orlando. Ken Gursky handed over Grenier's photo, and Michelle, 32, handed over the cash, Smith said. Then they were arrested.

The Gurskys posted $1,000 bonds Friday and returned to their east Orange County home. They retained custody of their two children.

Gursky reflected Friday on why he was arrested, saying he was glad he and his wife had rejected the idea of buying a gun to shoot Grenier.

''Michelle and I talked about many, many things before we decided on the stupid thing that we did,'' he said. ''I think it was the stupidest idea that ever came into my head.''